


Durin's Triumph

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Fili and Kili aren't technically related, M/M, Temporary Character Death, The One Ring - Freeform, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-19 01:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5950252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of course it was all a dream. It had to be. It was the only thing that made sense. </p><p>“Kili?” Fili’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Azyungâl?” he whispered quietly, so low that only they could hear, his voice heartbreakingly hesitant.</p><p>Kili did gasp at that and would have collapsed if Fili’s hands didn’t wrap around him in support. “It was real?” he asked, hardly daring to believe. “Everything?”</p><p>Fili nodded, tears shining in his eyes as he pressed their foreheads together. “It must have been for us to have both experienced it.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Balin pulled them both aside soon after they had entered the mountain. Kili knew the adviser would want to talk to them as soon as they saw Thorin enthralled with Erebor’s treasure trove. He had never seen him look so… wrong.

“The two of you have to decide now,” Balin told them urgently.

“We were supposed to have more time,” Fili argued half-heartedly, eyes darting towards the hallway that led to the dragon’s former lair with a troubled frown. “We were supposed to retake the mountain and see which of us the people chose…”

“That is no longer an option,” the older dwarf stated grimly. “Thorin is… lost. If he doesn’t snap out of it, one of you may have to take his place.”

Kili inhaled sharply. “You can’t mean… usurp him?” he asked in horror.

Balin shook his head. “No. It would be taking the title of regent while the king is indisposed.”

“That is splitting hairs and leaning dangerously towards treason, Balin,” Fili said in a cold tone.

“I will always be loyal to Thorin,” he said vehemently. “But that dwarf down there is _not_ Thorin Oakenshield.”

Kili couldn’t argue with that, and with a glance he could see that Fili couldn’t either. It was not their king that was blinded by the glint of gold. Their king was a noble man, caring more for his kin and kith than for precious metal and jewels. Their king did not have a crazed look of greed in his eyes.

He did not know the dwarf ensnared by goldlust, and it frightened him.

“I will leave you to discuss it,” Balin said, giving them a shallow bow as he left. “Let me know your decision.”

Silence stretched between them after the older dwarf had left them until Fili finally broke it with a heavy sigh. “Kili…”

“It should be you,” he said before Fili could say anything else. “You’re the eldest.”

Fili shook his head. “I have no Durin blood in me. You do.”

“Illegitimate blood,” Kili pointed out. “You were at least legally adopted by Mother and Father after your birth parents died. I’m just the son of a lowly dwarrowdam who was unlucky enough to fall pregnant from Thorin’s seed and die in childbirth. I’m nothing but a bastard.”

“Don’t say that!” Fili hissed, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to look him in the eye. “The circumstances of your birth mean _nothing_. You are worth so much more than what you believe. And Dain would stand behind your claim.”

He narrowed his eyes at that argument. “Dain has promised to stand behind either of our claims, but _you_ would make the better king. You can’t refute that! You’re far more diplomatic than I am.”

It was obvious to Kili. Fili as King Under the Mountain just made sense. 

“You’re diplomatic when you wish to be,” Fili said with smirk and a cocked brow. He sobered quickly though. “I want nothing that would make you anything but my equal.”

Kili hated when Fili said things like that. Things that made Kili believe that Fili would care for him as something other than a brother. He knew it was impossible though. Dis and Vili had raised them as brothers. Fili had always treated him like a brother. It was only Kili’s treacherous heart that wouldn’t go along with that. It had chosen Fili as his One and there was no going back from that.

“I don’t want to be placed above you either,” he murmured, looking away so that his true feelings didn’t show.

“Then we’ll share the throne!” Fili declared triumphantly, surprising a laugh out of him.

“We can’t do that!” Kili cried in exasperation. 

“Why not? Together, we’re the perfect heir. Me with my legitimacy and you with your blood. We’ve always shared everything,” Fili said, stepping closer to him with a soft look in his eyes. “Why not this?”

Kili suppressed a shiver at Fili’s proximity, which only magnified the fact that Fili’s hands still rested on his shoulders. “I doubt anyone would agree to that,” he pointed out.

“So?” Fili said with a confident smirk. “They can call one of us by an arbitrary title, but we’ll share the burden. Everyone will know that neither of us have more authority than the other. How does that sound?”

He thought it over before a smile crept over his face. “Good,” he decided. “But you get the title,” he added mischievously.

Fili rolled his eyes but nodded. “I can live with that.”

When they told Balin their decision, he looked unsurprised. “I always assumed the title would be a formality between the two of you,” he told them with a shake of his head. “But I thank you for making the decision all the same.”

Later, though, with an army of elves and men at their door and Thorin unwilling to barter with them, it did not seem as if the decision would matter all that much.

“We are but thirteen in number,” Kili whispered his doubts to Fili as the others were choosing their armor and weapons. “Is Thorin so lost in his greed that he believes we can win?”

Fili shook his head. “He is counting on Dain getting here in time,” he murmured back. “He knows that if we give in now, the dwarves of Erebor will never have the respect of men and elves. Even at our people’s best, we have only ever had the grudging esteem of the rest of the races. If Thorin were to give them one gold coin, Erebor would forever be a subservient fiefdom to Mirkwood and Dale.”

“And if Dain doesn’t get here in time?” he asked, knowing the answer but somehow needing Fili to say it.

“Then we die showing the world that Durin’s folk will bow to the will of no one,” he answered gravely.

Kili nodded, biting his lip and looking down uncertainly.

“Hey,” Fili said more gently, stepping closer and tilting his chin up. “Whatever happens, we will be together.”

Together.

The thought of their eminent demise brought only one regret to his mind, and the words were leaving his mouth before he could stop them. “I love you.”

Fili smiled. “I love you too, Kee.”

He shook his head. “No,” he said, figuring that if he were going to confess his feelings, he was going to do it right. “I’m _in_ love with you. You’re my One, my _everything_ , and I… just needed you to know in case…”

Despite the fact that Kili was discussing their possible death, Fili’s smile only grew wider as Kili’s words trailed away. He pressed their foreheads together firmly as his blue eyes locked with Kili’s. “Âzyungâl,” he breathed, causing Kili to gasp. “I love you. I promise you that we will never be parted.”

Kili would find out much later that it was a promise that Fili could not keep. 

The life was draining out of him, he knew, but it didn’t matter, Kili decided. Not when Fili’s eyes were already gazing lifelessly at the darkening sky. He wanted to be angry at his One for leaving before him, for jumping in front of a blade meant for him, but he couldn’t. Not when he knew that they would meet soon enough in the Halls of Mahal.

He felt the coldness of death creep in and let it take him, closing his eyes to the sight of his dead love, unable to bear it any longer.

When warmth crept back into him and he opened his eyes, the battlefield and the mountain were gone. They were not, however, replaced with the expected halls where he would greet his ancestors.

Instead, there was a bedroll beneath him, with a stick poking uncomfortably into his back, and a sea of stars above him.

He sat up abruptly, shocked to see his brother and the entire company surrounding him.

tbc…


	2. Chapter One

Kili stared dumbly at the campsite around him. He was apparently the last one awake. Fili was crouched next to him, back turned to him as he carefully repacked his pack. He couldn’t help but stare at the back of Fili’s golden head, wanting desperately for him to turn so that he could see the _life_ in those blue eyes.

He shook the thought of Fili’s dead eyes away. It hadn’t happened. It _couldn’t_ happen.

Kili turned to watch the other dwarves bustling around and getting ready to continue their journey now that a new day had dawned. He wasn’t quite sure where they were on their road to Erebor. Given that both Bilbo _and_ the ponies were present, though, he figured they had at least left the Shire and hadn’t encountered any trolls yet.

Would they encounter trolls, he wondered as he got to his feet and haphazardly rolled up his bedroll and gathered the rest of his belongings for the long day of riding ahead of them. Was it all a dream? The mountain, the battle…

Fili loving him back.

A strangled cry escaped from his lips as the pack in his hands slipped from his fingers, drawing the eyes of the entire company to him, much to his shame. He looked down, not wanting to meeting their eyes. Not wanting to meet _Fili’s_ eyes.

Of course it was all a dream. Fili could have any dwarf or dwarrowdam he wanted. Why would he choose _Kili_?

“Kili?” Fili’s voice cut through his thoughts, closer than Kili expected. He looked up and nearly gasped at how close he was now standing, blue eyes staring at him intently. “Azyungâl?” he whispered quietly, so low that only they could hear, his voice heartbreakingly hesitant.

Kili did gasp at that and would have collapsed if Fili’s hands didn’t wrap around him in support. “It was real?” he asked, hardly daring to believe. “Everything?”

Fili nodded, tears shining in his eyes as he pressed their foreheads together. “It must have been for us to have both to experience.”

“You left me,” he accused weakly, tears leaking from his eyes. He didn’t care that everyone was probably watching. If this had been _before_ , he would be mortified for Thorin, his adopted uncle and barely acknowledged father, see him like this. But now, with Fili before him and telling him it was all real, he couldn’t care less.

“I couldn’t watch you die,” Fili replied, voice thick with his own tears. “Forgive me.”

“Don’t do it again,” Kili muttered, lurching forward and burying his face in the other’s neck.

Fili didn’t answer, only held him close and dropped a kiss to the top of his head.

“Fili, Kili,” Thorin’s stern voice called them, interrupting their moment. “A word.”

Kili caught Fili’s eye, slightly worried about what would happen now, but the blond gave him a reassuring smile. He laced their fingers together and led Kili to where Thorin, Balin, and Dwalin were waiting, removed from the rest of the company so as not to be overheard.

Thorin gave their joined hands a pointed look as they joined them, and Kili’s heart lurched uncomfortably.

They had confessed their feelings to each with death on a bloody battlefield looming ahead of them. Kili had never stopped and considered whether Thorin would approve. He had never even considered Fili returning his feelings, why would he have thought about their adoptive uncle’s approval?

The fact that they were both males wouldn’t be the issue. Dwarves were a fairly open-minded folk when it came to love. A Dwarf’s One was sacred, and it was rare enough for a dwarf to find that no one would dare judge who a dwarf found his in.

But there were expectations on he and Fili that went beyond the average dwarf. They were always told that they were lucky to have been adopted into the House of Durin. The fact that Kili technically made no different. He may have had Durin blood, but he wasn’t born into the _House_. 

It was a distinction that had been hammered home to him over and over by the other dwarflings in Ered Luin. They had stopped after Fili had stepped in, which had led to not a few scuffles.

But that was not the point.

The point was, they had been taught that their duty was first to the House of Durin. And they hadn’t even thought of that duty before they pledged themselves to each other.

“Well, this certainly muddies up the water, boys,” Balin began with a sigh.

Dwalin snorted. “It’s not like anyone is _surprised_ tha’ the lads are Ones,” he said with an easy shrug. “Anyone who’s met them could guess tha’.”

“As long as it went unacknowledged, though, we could wed one of them off,” Thorin growled. Kili winced at that and tightened his hand around Fili’s. He hadn’t known that had been the plan. “Dain backs their claim with the understanding that his daughter will be queen.”

“He’s never made that an explicit condition of his support,” Balin pointed out, rubbing his beard thoughtfully.

“It matters little now,” their uncle said, frowning at his sister’s adopted sons once more. “Not with that little display in front of the entire company. No matter how loyal they may be, word will leak out.”

Balin sighed again. “They’d only be miserable later if one of them married Dain’s daughter and then they figured out their feelings. An unhappy king does not make for a happy kingdom.”

“Besides, no sense being upset now,” Dwalin said gruffly. “Cat’s already out of the bag.”

Kili was glad that Balin and Dwalin were at least on their side. But he hated to disappoint Thorin.

He wanted to speak up, to say _something_ in his and Fili’s defense, but what? He would not apologize for loving Fili. Not now that he knew that Fili loved him back. But the parted of him that respected the exiled king and craved his approval hated that disappointed glare directed at him.

“Thorin,” Fili spoke, giving Kili’s hand a squeeze. “I know that we may have been more… flagrant… in our affection just now than deemed proper, but it changes nothing.” 

Kili’s head snapped to look at Fili in horror. He didn’t mean…

Fili’s eyes met him and he smiled softly. “I would never have married Dain’s daughter knowing that Kili was my One. Even if I didn’t know I was his.”

He swallowed thickly at the love shining in his beloved’s eyes before turning to face Thorin’s disapproving eyes. “Nor would I have. Please do not be angry, Uncle,” he pleaded, shuffling closer to Fili.

Thorin gave them a long, hard look before sighing heavily. “I suppose it’s not fair for me to be angry Mahal created you as One, but you must understand that this complicates everything. Dain may withdraw his support for your claim to the throne.”

“If Kili is the price of the throne, I will not pay it,”Fili stated firmly. Kili nodded his head in agreement.

“You would see Dain or his son as King Under the Mountain after my death? After all that I have worked for?” Thorin asked incredulously.

“We will serve Erebor as our duty requires, Uncle,” Fili told him earnestly. Kili frowned at the phrasing. He knew Fili hadn’t wanted to be King and be placed above him, but he hadn’t considered that Fili, like himself, would rather not have the burden at all. “But we would be worthless without each other.”

“Well, that is all well and good but let us discuss something we don’t all know,” Balin said, interrupting whatever Thorin may have said in reply. “I would like to know what prompted such a display in front of everyone. Specifically, what exactly was ‘real’?”

Kili met Fili’s eyes in a panic, not knowing what they were supposed to reveal. Fili looked as equally lost. 

They didn’t know what exactly had happened, why exactly they had been sent back. Were they supposed to change anything?

Well, that was a stupid question, Kili decided immediately. Regardless of what else happened, he was changing Fili’s death, preferably stopping his own in the process as well. And because neither of them would ever abandon their king and company, that had to mean stopping the battle. Or at least making it more likely to end more favorably. 

And he wasn’t sure there was a way to do that without letting anyone else know what was going on.

“Fili and I have already lived through this journey once,” he answered, drawing a sharp look from the elder dwarves. “Lived and died at the end,” he added bitterly.

Dwalin looked at his brother. “Is such a thing possible?”

Balin shook his head. “I have never heard of such a tale, but that does not mean that it is not true.”

Kili bristled. “We would not lie about something so serious.”

“I did not think you would, Kili,” the older dwarf said gently. “I was merely pointing out that just because there is no precedent for it, doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen.”

“If this is true, what happens at the end? What leads to your deaths?” Thorin asked. 

Kili thought he saw a flicker of concern in his eyes, and couldn’t stop the pleased feeling that unfurled in his heart, even if it was only his imagination. His entire life, he had longed for his true father to show him that he cared, that he actually _loved_ him. But Thorin was a dwarf hardened by tragedy and the terrible burden of providing for his desolate people. Finding time to show concern for his bastard son was probably asking too much of him.

He had been content with the distant care of an adopted uncle, though. It wasn’t in his nature, after all, to be greedy.

“There will be a battle,” Fili told him. “At the gates of Erebor after the dragon is dead. An army of men and elves will come first, seeking shares of the treasure in the mountain.”

“Vultures,” Dwalin spat.

Kili didn’t think that was entirely fair and couldn’t help but point it out. “The elves, yeah, but the men’s village was destroyed by the dragon before one of their own killed it. If we had offered aid immediately, they would not have sided with the elves…” he trailed off as the focus of the others bore into him, sure that they would scoff at his reasoning. After all, men were no quicker than elves to give dwarves any respect.

But the three elder dwarves had all lived through dragon flame and knew its devastation. And without the goldlust clouding his mind, Thorin could see the reason in Kili’s words.

“Gratitude gains allies,” Thorin agreed before he narrowed his eyes. “Was it men and elves that you fought against, then?”

Fili shook his head. “No, armies orcs and wargs came upon us all without warning. We joined forces with the elves and men to defeat them, but Kili and I…”

“We don’t know what happened to anyone else,” Kili picked up where his One had left off. “There was so much confusion. So much death. We don’t even know if our side won or not.”

Thorin was silent a moment before giving them a considering look. “With your knowledge, do you believe we can make it to the mountain sooner?”

Fili and he shared a look before nodding. If nothing else, they could avoid the weeks of delay in Rivendell waiting to have the map read.

“If we can make better time, when can have more time to plan for the battle,” Dwalin said approvingly.

“Unless us making better time moves _up_ the battle,” Balin pointed out. He leveled a look at the two younger dwarves. “Is there anything else about the time leading up to the battle that we should know?”

Kili bit his lip and looked down. He was sure that Thorin’s goldlust was important, but was that something that they could discuss? It would be an insult to suggest that his king could descend into madness, but it was what had _happened_.

“Nothing pressing,” Fili answered for them both, slipping an arm around Kili’s waist. “Now, if that is all, may we be excused?”

Dwalin snorted. “Please go and spare us the sight of you groping each other.”

Kili blushed at the insinuation, but didn’t protest as Fili pulled him away, deeper into the woods and away from anyone who might see or hear them.

“Shouldn’t we tell them about Thorin’s madness?” he asked as soon as they were away.

Fili shook his head. “Not yet. He would not thank us for telling him in front of both Balin and Dwalin. We must tread carefully, Kili. If we change too much, we may put ourselves on a path that we can’t navigate.”

He nodded before giving Fili a shy look. “Would you really have refused to marry Dain’s daughter for me? Even without knowing how I felt?”

“I could never betray you like that,” Fili told him with a serious look. “My heart has always been yours whether you knew it or not.”

After such a declaration, Kili could not help surging forward and capturing Fili’s lips with his own.

He gasped when Fili instantly took control of the kiss, pressing him back into the bark of a nearby tree. The blond took advantage of his open mouth to slip his tongue inside and all but devour Kili’s mouth.

Kili moaned and arched up, needing more contact.

Fili groaned and pulled back, panting as he looked at Kili with lust-blown eyes. “Later,” he promised, dropping a chaste kiss to Kili’s kiss-swollen lips before pushing away.

He gave him a heated stare. “I’ll hold you to that.”

tbc…


	3. Chapter Two

“If we can avoid the orcs in the Misty Mountains, we can avoid the battle,” Kili reasoned softly. He and Fili were riding at the back of the Company, discussing their plans quietly. “They wouldn’t have come to the mountain if Gandalf hadn’t killed the Great Goblin, and he wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t encounter the orcs in the mountains.”

“The problem is, we still have to take the same pass through the mountains,” Fili pointed out with a sigh. “Goblin holes riddle those mountains. If we have to take shelter for any reason, we still run the risk of running into them.”

“But if we avoid that,” he continued, undeterred. “Then we can go through Mirkwood by the Old Forest Road. We can avoid the elves altogether that way,” he finished proudly, sending Fili a smirk.

The blond, however, didn’t look that impressed. “Beorn said the Old Forest Road had become overgrown and impassible, not to mention often frequented by orcs. Besides, we’d be too far south by the time we came out the other end. _If_ we came out the other end.”

“So we should risk being captured by Thranduil again?” Kili asked incredulously.

“If we stay on the path, we shall be fine,” Fili said firmly.

Kili looked ahead at the rest of the Company and sighed. “I doubt very much we could convince them all to stay on the path when they’re starving, especially if they smell the elves’ feast.”

“Thorin will keep them on the path if we warn him,” the blond said confidently. “They’ll listen to him. I’m more worried about being attacked by those spiders.”

“But if we can avoid the goblins, and the elves, and the spiders,” Kili pressed on, trying to remain optimistic.

“Then we have to worry about the men of Lake-town. Not to mention the dragon,” Fili finished for him.

He couldn’t stop his groan of frustration. “It sounds impossible when you say it like that.”

“It always sounded impossible,” he replied. “That is why so few volunteered to come.”

“But we _did_ make it before,” Kili insisted, refusing to despair. “We retook the Erebor.”

“And I do not doubt that we will make it again,” Fili told him. “I would rather our return to the mountain not be followed by a battle that will bring about our deaths, though. I’d rather not retake Erebor at all if that is the price.”

Kili’s head snapped up to stare at him in shock. “Shh,” he hissed quickly, glancing nervously towards where Thorin road near the front of the group. “If Uncle were to hear you say that…”

“Dammit, Kili, I’ll do whatever my duty to the House of Durin requires, but I won’t lose you to it,” Fili whispered back, a hint of desperation in his voice. “Not again.”

“It wasn’t duty that got us killed before,” he told him with a slow shake of his head, a sad smile on his lips. “You died protecting me, and I died protecting Thorin. Neither of us did what we did out of duty. And both of us would do it again. And you would not abandon the Company.”

Fili sighed. “No, I wouldn’t. But if we were caught by elves again and rotted away in the dungeons of Mirkwood for months instead of reaching the Lonely Mountain, I wouldn’t be too disappointed.”

Kili understood the sentiment. Though they had been brought up on stories of the wealth and splendor of Erebor, he and Fili had never really longed for such opulence. They had been happy with their lives in Ered Luin. Kili was fairly certain that his old life would have been absolutely perfect if Fili had told him he loved him back. It might not have been the easiest of life, but between his hunting and Fili’s skills in the forge, they could have lived comfortably enough.

And they would have had each other.

There was no use thinking about that, though. No matter what happened, that quiet, comfortable life was lost to them now.

“You’d be a little disappointed,” he said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. “Our cells were far apart, after all.”

“True,” Fili conceded, turning his head slightly and letting his eyes rove over Kili’s body hungrily. The brunet couldn’t suppress the shiver at the look. “And I intend to become intimately acquainted with what exactly I would be missing.”

Kili shifted in his saddle and bit his lip at the pressure on his crotch. How was that Fili could get him half-hard by just _looking_ at him?

“But we were supposed to be planning,” Fili said with an innocent smile, looking forward once more.

“You troll,” he groaned.

Fili only laughed at him, but quickly sobered. “Speaking of trolls, we should be coming upon them soon.”

“We can steer clear of them easily enough,” Kili told him with a thoughtful frown. “If we push Thorin to go further and faster. It should be easy enough.”

“What about the swords, though?” the other asked. “They came in handy in Goblin-town.”

“Which we plan to avoid,” he pointed out.

“We didn’t quite plan on going there to begin with,” Fili commented. “Shouldn’t we get them just in case? They seemed to frighten the goblins. And Gandalf came back in time to stop them from eating us.”

Kili thought it probably said something about the rest of their journey that their little run-in with trolls didn’t really seem all that daunting. “Gandalf hasn’t left us yet,” he said, nodding towards where the wizard rode next to Bilbo. “We have a bit more time to decide. Maybe we should wait to see if we lose all of our food in the river again.”

Fili blanched at that, having obviously forgotten about the incident. Given the number of near death, and actual death, experiences they had had, it probably wasn’t so surprising that their most mundane one had slipped the blond’s mind.

He, though, didn’t think he’d ever forget the horrible moment when the strong current pulled Fili under and he didn’t come right back up.

It was the first time Kili realized that the danger on this quest was real, and that Fili could be ripped from him at any time.

That fear had festered inside him until they reached the Lonely Mountain, where it had, in the end, prompted him to admit his feelings for the blond. And although he would never regret the result, he would rather not have to witness the catalyst again.

Something of this thoughts must’ve shown on his face because Fili took one look at him and his face hardened in determination. “Come on,” he said, riding forward a bit so that he was between their two pack ponies. 

Kili frowned but kicked his heels into his pony and urged him forward as well. He pulled up next to Fili’s side and slowed to keep pace.

“Now we can keep both of them from bolting,” Fili explained quietly, mindful that they were nearer the rest of the Company now. Thankfully, the closest dwarf was Oin. “I reckon we have to take this quest one step at a time. We’ll never be able to plan it all out right now. There are too many things that could go wrong. Too many things we can’t control. And if we change too much, too fast, we might make things worse.”

Some of the tension that had building inside of Kili eased. One step at a time sounded doable.

Triumph surged within him as the pony next to Fili reared up, as it had what seemed like _ages_ ago. Before it could run off, though, Fili’s quick hands grabbed his reins. The horror quickly turned to horror as Fili was yanked for his saddle by the startled pony.

Kili swung off his pony and ran to where Fili had landed, terrified at the stillness of his âzyungâl.

Gloin, at least, had managed to get the pony calmed down, but Kili really could care less about the stupid pony in that moment.

He sagged in relief as he took in the steady rise of Fili’s chest before a chilling thought seized him.

In the original timeline, Fili had had an accident that had made Kili fear for his life. Now, those the events and circumstances were changed, Fili _still_ had had an accident that made Kili fear for his life.

What if there were some things they couldn’t change?

Hands pulled him away from Fili to make room for Oin, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the blond. The relief at finding him breathing was wearing off every second he didn’t wake up.

“He’ll be alright, Kili,” Thorin’s deep voice soothed.

Kili started as he toured his eyes away from Fili for a moment. He hadn’t realized the hands holding him back were Thorin’s. He shook his head and looked back at Fili.

“I can’t lose him again, Uncle,” he confessed in a barely audible whisper.

Before Thorin could respond, Fili’s eyes open and he sat up gingerly, looking around before spotting Kili and looking relieved.

“Well, it looks like you haven’t today,” Thorin said, releasing his hold on Kili and allowing him to barrel forward and collapse on the ground next to Fili.

“Fee…” he breathed.

The blond’s lips quirked up. “I’m fine, Kee,” he told him. “Just a little bump to the head.”

Kili moved closer to slide a supporting arm around him. “Well, with your hard head, I doubt it did much damage,” he joked weakly, even though he was far from reassured.

“We’ll make camp here tonight,” Thorin declared suddenly, much to Kili’s surprise. They hadn’t made camp last time, when he and Fili had both almost drowned in the river.

He looked at Thorin, who was standing nearby next to Oin. Had the old healer told him something privately? Was Fili worse off than they were saying?

He shoved the thought away. Neither of them had fallen unconscious before. That had to be it.

He reluctantly left Fili alone to spread the bedrolls beneath a large beech tree. He was back a moment later, helping the blond to stand and leading him to the tree. He settled down against the trunk and maneuvered Fili so that he was lying between his legs and leaning back against his chest.

“Hmmm, this is nice,” Fili murmured into Kili’s neck.

Kili shuddered at the feeling of Fili’s breath brushing against his skin. “It would be nicer if you weren’t hurt,” he said softly, burying his nose in Fili’s golden hair. “You were hurt last time and now you’re hurt again. What if we can’t change anything after all?”

“You were hurt last time and aren’t hurt now,” he pointed out, craning his head up to look at Kili. “So we changed something.”

Kili frowned. That didn’t make him feel any better. Before he could say anything further, though, Gandalf settled down next to them, surveying them with a serious expression on his weathered face.

“There is something different about the two of you,” he stated without preamble, suspicion in his narrowed grey eyes. “Something I cannot quite place…”

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Kili said, not forgetting how the wizard stood with the elves and men that had set siege upon Erebor. Thorin may have been mad with goldlust, but Gandalf had no way of knowing that. He had not even _tried_ to talk to them, instead believing the elves and men to naturally be in the right.

Kili may have been raised by dwarves who resented elves and men in general, but he had never understood the real reason behind it until that moment. He had thought the wizard was their friend. He had forgotten that his primary concern was and probably always would be the _true_ “Children of Ilúvatar.” Of course Gandalf had sided with them rather than the adopted children that Eru had only allowed to exist through pity.

The wizard grunted at his answer. “I’m sure you know more than you let on, but you can keep your secrets for now.”

“How very gracious of you,” he replied testily.

Gandalf looked surprised at his hostility, and Fili brought a hand up to squeeze in thigh comfortingly.

“Have I offended you in some way, young Kili?” Gandalf asked kindly, a genuine air of apology about him that threw Kili. “I assure you that it was quite unintended if I have. While your uncle and I may have our differences, I have never bore any of you any ill will.”

“Kili is just grumpy because I’m hurt,” Fili stepped in with his natural diplomacy. How the blond had ever thought that _Kili_ could ever be half the king he could was beyond him. “Don’t mind him, Gandalf.”

The wizard hummed thoughtfully before smiling. “So I see the two of you have finally pledged yourselves to each other.”

Kili caught Bilbo inching closer to the wizard, obviously curious about their conversation but not quite comfortable enough to join in. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the hobbit. Yes, he had given the Arkenstone to Thranduil and Bard, but he had meant well. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t understand the dynamics between their races. Hobbits, he had learned, held dwarves, elves, and men in pretty much the same esteem. There at least was no bias that had led to the seeming betrayal.

“We haven’t made it official yet,” Fili was answering. “But that’s really just a formality.”

“How does that work?” Bilbo asked suddenly, face going red as their attention turned to him and he realized he had spoken aloud. To his credit, though, he didn’t back down. “I mean, you’re brothers, which I don’t understand, but you’re also both male. If you’re Thorin’s heirs, don’t you have to have heirs?”

“Our parents adopted both of us,” Kili explained, intentionally not mentioning his blood-connection to Thorin. It was not something that was openly acknowledged. “So we don’t share any blood. And when the time comes, we will adopt an heir of our own.”

The hobbit’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What about the bloodlines? I mean,” he quickly backtracked with a chagrinned grimace, “I know men and elves always put a lot of stock in blood and whatnot, and even us hobbits do to an extent, though we’re mostly all related in some way or another, but…”

Kili scowled at that. “What does blood matter? Fili will be a great king even if he doesn’t have any Durin blood in him.”

Gandalf’s bushy eyebrows went up at that. “So you have decided which of you will get the throne after Thorin? And you’ve chosen Fili?”

The blond snorted. “Gandalf seems to have the same view of blood as men and elves,” he commented lightly. “But if it makes you feel better, Kili and I will be equals, though he insists I wear the crown.”

“It will look so much better on your golden head,” he replied serenely, dropping a kiss to said head.

“So Kili has Durin blood then?” Bilbo asked. It seemed that now that he had started asking questions, he had decided to get them all out.

“Yes,” Kili answered, not elaborating any further than that. Gandalf seemed to understand his unwillingness to say more on the subject and didn’t interject anything further.

“Come, Bilbo, let’s go see if we can be of assistance to the others. I think our two young friends here should rest,” the wizard said, standing up and walking away, the hobbit trailing after him in slight bewilderment.

“You were rude to Gandalf,” Fili told him, leaning his head back against Kili’s shoulder with a sigh.

“Gandalf’s rude to everyone,” Kili retorted. “Unless he wants something.”

He chuckled at that. “I guess that’s true,” he said, words slurring together a bit.

Kili frowned. “You should rest,” he told him, worried about the fatigue in his âzyungâl’s voice.

“I am resting,” Fili protested weakly.

“I meant _sleep_ ,” he said with fond exasperation.

“Well, since I have such a nice pillow to rest my aching head on,” he mumbled back, eyelids already drooping. He was sleeping soundly a few minutes later.

Kili kept a careful watch on the sleeping Fili, determined to catch any sign that his sleep was slipping into something more treacherous, as he knew sometimes happened with head wounds.

Still, he couldn’t help his mind from wondering back to what Fili had said. Kili hadn’t gotten hurt this time around, but Fili still had. 

What if that meant that they would only be able to stop one of their deaths?

If that were the case, Kili decided, it would be _Fili’s_ death that was prevented.

tbc…


End file.
